Guardians
by VividInfinity
Summary: A seer, four guardians, and the four new Kings and Queens of Narnia. The realm is in danger, as foretold now by Azasha du Chandra, and two girls are somehow linked. Rated T for future chapters
1. Guardians

"Are you sure about this, Lu?" Peter asked, forever the overly cautious older brother.

"Of course I'm sure, Peter," The Valiant Queen said. "She wants to meet us, so she will."

"But are we really thinking this through?" Susan asked.

"Oh, for Aslan's sake," Edmund rolled his eyes. Why did his older brother and sister always have to be so . . .you know what he meant!

It had been hardly a month since the Kings and Queens had been put on the throne.

On her dark brown gelding, Queen Susan the Gentle's horn hung on her saddle, and her bow within reach. High King Peter the Magnificent rode a white stallion, his sword Rhindon in its scabbard at his belt.

Queen Lucy the Valiant rode a dappled gray mare, her cape hanging over the horse's rump, and her dagger at her belt. Her brother, King Edmund the Just, sat atop a blue roan gelding, beside his little sister.

"Remind me again what we're doing," Edmnud said. "Why are we riding in the middle of nowhere?"

"Edmund!" Lucy protested. "They trees will think you're mean," Edmund rolled his eyes.

"Because, Ed," Susan put in, "There's a seer around here somewhere, and she wants to meet us."

"Why does she want to see us?" Edmund asked. "I mean, we've never met a seer,"

"Then now's as good a time as any," Lucy decided. She peered around her. "It should be around here somewhere,"

"What did the messenger say?" Edmund asked.

"To head four miles into the woods, and that she would find us," Susan said.

"And I have," a smooth voice like silk echoed around them. "Please, come in, and leave the horse outside. No harm will come to them."

The roots of a giant tree nearby untwisted to reveal a door.

The Kings and Queens dismounted.

"Who is this person?" Edmund muttered.

"Cool it, Ed," Susan admonished.

Inside the tree was very different from the world outside.

For one thing, the radius of the tree couldn't have been more than ten feet around, but the room inside was big enough to hold all four horses in addition to their riders.

The walls seemed to be made of roots, and in every nook and cranny among them, there was water pooled. The ceiling seemed to come to a tapered end, and the door swung shut behind the Kings and Queens. The room was filled with anything and everything. Books, paper, quills, ink, bark, acorns, leaves, rocks, picture frames, weapons, cups and bowls, and anything else.

In a table in the center sat a large bowl filled with water. There were five chairs, as though their host had been expecting them. One for her, and one for each King and Queen.

Their host herself sat behind the table, a white mouse on her shoulder. She was very beautiful, with her long dark hair and purple cat eyes. She had long ears tapered at the tips, and a silvery sheen of beauty around her. The woman wore a long white gown that seemed to shimmer as she moved.

"Greetings, Sons of Adam," She said to Peter and Edmund. "And to you, Daughters of Eve,"

The Kings and Queens nodded.

"Who are you?" Edmund asked, and Lucy elbowed him.

"Be nice," She hissed at him.

The woman smiled. "My name is Azasha Du Chandra, the last of the seeing elves of Narnia."

The Sons and Daughters of Adam and Eve looked at each other.

"You're an elf?" Peter asked.

Azasha nodded. She gestured at the chairs before her. "Please, sit," The Kings and Queens did so.

"Oh, he's adorable," Queen Lucy the Valiant cooed, looking at the mouse on Azasha's shoulder.

Azasha smiled, and gently picked up the white mouse.

"His name is Koeh," She said, passing the mouse to the youngest Queen. "He likes you," She noted as the mouse snuggled against the young girl. "I have never seen him take so quickly to a person before."

"But, he's a mouse," Edmund said.

"10 out of 10 for observation," Susan muttered.

"Yes, he is a mouse, Son of Adam," Azasha said. "But he has a pure heart, and his soul is cleansed of those that can make him evil."

Lucy looked at Azasha as she stroked Koeh. "You wanted to see us? Why?" she asked.

"Because you are my Queens and my Kings," Azasha said. "And I make it a point to meet anyone who needs my help."

"What makes you think we need help?" Edmund challenged.

"Ed—" Peter began, but Azasha cut him off with a raised hand.

"Elves have clear sight, Son of Adam. We are not of Adam and Eve, but of the world around you. My ancestors were the trees and the grass, the mountain lions and the field mice." Azasha said. "I am a seer, the last of my people. You need me, Sons of Adam, Daughters of Eve,"

"Fine," Peter said, "But how can you help us?"

Azasha held out a pale slender hand with long nails. "Give me your hand, Son of Adam," she said.

Peter reluctantly stretched a hand across the table and bowl of water. The elf gripped his forearm.

Azasha plunged the hand into the bowl, into ice-cold water. Peter cried out in surprise.

"What are you doing?" Edmund demanded.

Azasha took a knife from her belt, and sliced the forearm of the High King, who yelled.

"Stop it!" Susan screeched.

"No," Lucy said quietly. "Let her," she said, and her brothers and sister looked at her. "It's magic,"

"But it's hurting him!" Susan said.

"Life has pain," Azasha said. "Or else it would only be a dream," And she sliced the High King's arm again.

As the High King fought to wrench his arm away, the blood floated into the clear water. Azasha put the bloody knife on the table, and let go of Peter's bloody arm. His face contorted with pain, he clenched his fist as Susan grabbed his arm to examine it.

"He will live," Azasha said vaguely. "None have ever died at my hand,"

She examined the bloody water. Getting up, she searched the room for something, looking under and over and around anything. "Where did I put it?" She mumbled. "I know it was— here!"

She pulled out a small box.

Azasha set it down on the table next to the bloody knife, and opened it.

She thrust a roll of bandages at Susan, and then returned to rummaging around in the wooden box.

"A bit weird, isn't she?" Edmund whispered.

Azasha pulled a small bag out of the box, and opened it.

"What's that, Azasha?" Lucy asked. Koeh had climbed onto her shoulder, and was in the process of exploring the shoulder of his new friend's dress.

"Bones," She said, dropping each into the bowl of water as she named them. "From the ear of a griffin, from the tail of a mermaid, a piece of a horn of a minotaur, from the hoof of a centaur, and one last piece," Before dropping it into the bowl, she held it up. "A bone from the skull of a Son of Adam," She dropped it into the bowl of water and blood.

"I don't even want to know where you got that," Edmund said.

"Ed, honestly," Susan admonished, wrapping a bandage around Peter's arm.

Azasha looked down at the bowl. Her eyes widened. She grabbed the bowl and poured the water out of a window.

"This is bad," she muttered. "This is bad, bad, bad,"

"What?" Lucy asked. "What's wrong?"

Azasha sat down again. "I have been given a prophecy." She sounded a bit distressed. "And it is a terrible prophecy."

"What is it?" Edmund pressed.

Azasha took a deep breath.

"_There are four, but Two will come,_

_Together there will be but six,_

_Then the time of peace is done,_

_One will be the King's beloved,_

_The Other to be the King's Heart,_

_But both to be free doves._

_One will die while the other must live,_

_One of witch,_

_And One of white,_

_For the love of two Kings_

_To be lost or gained._

_Narnia in danger,_

_To be overcome,_

_By the force who had died,_

_Through one of the Two,_"

"You know that doesn't rhyme," Susan said, trying not to look shaken. Edmund slapped his forehead.

"It rhymes in Elven, and that's what matters," Azasha said. She turned to the two young Kings. "There will be two in your future, and they will be dangerous,"

"What can we do?" Peter asked.

Azasha shook her head. "One can't change their fate. They can change the path, but the destination remains the same." She got up, and rummaged around in the room again. "But I can give you something to help you,"

Edmund and Peter looked at each other. Should they be worried that the person about to help them had just predicted something that could end in doom?

No, probably not.

"Here," Azasha said. She held a large basket.

Setting it down, she pulled a kitten out.

"For High King Peter the Magnificent," she said, and passed him the kitten. "A white lion cub for power and strength."

She pulled another kitten out.

"For Queen Susan the Gentle," She passed a kitten to the Queen, "A black cat, to watch and wait in the shadows."

Her hands again disappeared into the basket. "For King Edmund the Just," She drew out a bundle of fur. "A white wolf cub, of the ice of memory, and the howl of a pack,"

She turned to Lucy, and smiled. "And for Queen Lucy the Valiant," Her hands dove into the basket to pull out another smaller animal. "A golden eagle for the golden-hearted,"

She passed the chick to Lucy, who cradled it.

Azasha told the young rulers of Narnia. "These are your guardians. Protect them and they will protect you."

Later, with their guardians cradled as they rode home, Edmund said,

"So do we keep them?"

"Of course we keep them!" Lucy insisted. "How can't we?"

"But, Lu, she did seem a bit weird." Peter said.

"She cut Peter, Lu," Susan said.

"To predict a prophecy," Lucy protested. "I like her. And I liked Koeh."

"What's the rat got to do with anything?" Edmund asked.

"It's a white mouse, Edmund, and it's darling." Lucy said. She changed the subject. "What will you call your guardians?"

Peter, Edmund, and Susan looked at each other.

"For my cat, I think Bast," Susan said. "She was the Egyption goddess of cats, you know."

"No, I didn't," Edmund said. "And I think you're weird."

"The feeling's mutual, Ed," Susan retorted cheerfully. "What will you name your lioness, Peter?"

The High King of Narnia shrugged. "I dunno. I mean, she's a white lion cub,"

"So?" Lucy said reasonably. "What color are her eyes?"

Peter looked down at the small bundle of fur that peered at him.

"Amber,"

"Call her that, then," Lucy said. "And you, Edmund?"

"I dunno. A white she-wolf," Edmund shrugged. "What do I call her?"

"Well, her eyes are blue-gray," Susan noted. "Something from that, then?"

"Azure," Lucy suggested.

Edmund laughed. "Okay, Lu, I'll call her Azure. But you need to name your golden eagle,"

Lucy looked at the small, feathery bundle she cupped in her hands.

Too young to speak, she cheeped, and Lucy realized that all the animals given to them as guardians were female.

Why was that?

Was is coincidence, or would it matter later?

"Aurea," Lucy said. "It means 'golden'" And no one argued.


	2. Sisters, Corsets, and Kings

One year later, the young Kings and Queens were riding in the Western Woods.

"Ed!" Lucy shouted. An accomplished horsewoman at eleven years old, even she could not beat her older brothers and sisters. "Susan! Peter! Wait for me!"

"Gotta catch us, Lu!" Ed shouted back to his sister. "Come on! Queen Lucy the Valiant can't catch up with her brothers and sisters!" He teased.

"Edmund!" Lucy shrieked, and asked her horse, "Could you go faster, please?"

The mare replied, "With pleasure, milady," And sped up.

Suddenly, Lucy said, horrified, to her horse. "Stop, stop right now, please!" Before her horse had completely slowed, Lucy was on the ground, running.

"Lucy?" Susan called back.

A shriek came in answer.

"Lucy!" Susan shouted, and the horse did not need to be told to turn back. Pulling out her bow and arrow, Susan jumped to the ground, her brothers hot on her heels.

"Susan!" Came a shriek. "Peter!"

They came running, to find Lucy kneeling on the ground besides two girls, who appeared to be unconscious.

The older siblings quickly sheathed their weapons, and ran to Lucy's side.

"What happened, Lu?" Susan demanded, kneeling by the older of the two girls.

"I don't know," Lucy stammered. "I just saw them on the ground, and I thought I saw something over there," She pointed into the woods. "But I'm not sure if I just imagined it."

Susan stood. "Lucy, I need you to come with me," She said. Lucy nodded, and passed her vial of cordial to Edmund.

"Just a drop each," She ordered. "Otherwise it could hurt more than it could help," And she ran after Susan, pulling out her own weapon, a dagger.

They disappeared into the woods, silent as the black cat that ran after Susan, and the young golden hawk that swooped after Lucy.

Peter and Edmund looked at the girls.

The younger of the two seemed to be Edmund's age, now fourteen, or maybe a year younger. She had dark hair, and long lashes. She seemed to be the sister of the older girl.

The older girl seemed to be Peter or Susan's age. She was beautiful even unconscious, with long red-brown hair that fell around her shoulders.

Edmund, who was good at such things, examined them quickly.

"A rock," Edmund said. "They were both hit with rocks."

"Hard enough to knock them out?" Peter asked.

Edmund shook his head, and looked at the girls. They were dressed as Narnians, commoners. But they were young women, and that meant . . .

"Corsets," Edmund said flatly. Peter stifled a laugh.

"You want to do the honors?" He offered.

"How about you take one and I take the other?" Edmund said, and pulled out his dagger.

"Fair's fair," He said, taking out his own weapon.

Edmund unlaced the younger girl's dress, and cut the corset over her underdress.

Peter did the same with the other girl. Both coughed, and opened their eyes.

They both had silver eyes, a sharp gray-blue.

The first thing they each saw was a King's face over them.

"Peter! Edmund!" Susan admonished, coming back. "You cut their corsets?"

At this the girls seemed to come out of a daze, and realize their dresses were unlaced in front of two boys.

The older one shrieked, and slapped the High King across the face.

Lucy, coming over, laughed.

The younger one sat up, and wrapped her arms around herself, one handedly unbuttoning her dress while she spewed a colorful vocabulary to her King.

"You're welcome," The Kings said sorely in unison and Lucy fell over laughing.

Susan offered both girls a hand, and they each took it, getting up.

Still sitting on the ground, Peter asked Edmund, "Have I got a mark?"

Edmund peered at his brother's face. "No, just a little red,"

Lucy ran to her horse, and came back with two spare saddle blankets that belonged to Peter and Edmund's large horses.

"Here," She handed each girl a saddle blanket, and helped the younger one lace her dress up again. Susan helped the older one.

"Really, Peter!" Susan scolded. "It's not proper at all!"

Both boys got up. "Should've let them lie there then?" Ed asked.

The girls looked uncomfortable. "Um, thanks," The older one said. "Guess you didn't really deserve the slap,"

"Of course he did," Susan contradicted. "He deserved it completely."

The younger girl said, "I'm Sable, and this is my older sister Rosalie,"

Rosalie bobbed a curtsy, and Sable followed suit.

"What happened to you?" Susan asked.

The sisters looked at each other. "We don't know," Sable said. "We just woke up with _their_," she pointed at the two Kings. "Faces in front of us, and couldn't remember anything else."

Susan glared at her brothers.

"What?" Peter demanded. He said to Sable and Rosalie, "Come back to the castle with us, then."

Lucy nodded, bouncing up and down. "You can meet Mr. Tumnus! And the Beavers!"

The girls looked at each other, the back at their rescuers. "Um," Sable said. "Who are you?"

Peter stuck out a hand to Rosalie. "High King Peter the Valiant."

"Queen Susan of the Horn," Susan said, shaking Sable's hand. "And this is my brother King Edmund the Just, and my sister Queen Lucy the Valiant."

Lucy smiled, and pulled something out of her pocket. She tossed a bandage to Susan.

"You get Rosalie, and I'll get Sable."

When the girls' heads were bandaged, the four rulers climbed onto their horses. Then there was the problem of who would ride where.

"My horse isn't big enough for anyone to ride with me," Lucy announced.

"Edmund, Peter, you should take them," Susan said.

"Why don't you?" Edmund demanded.

"If we're attacked, I have to have both hands free," Susan said reasonably.

"If we're attacked, we'll have to use our swords," Her younger brother argued.

"But you can wield a sword with one hand," Susan said reasonably. "I can't use a bow with one hand."

Peter, without argument, held a hand out to Rosalie, who took it. Edmund did the same for Sable, and in seconds they were settled behind the Kings of Narnia.

AS they rode back towards the palace, Rosalie yelled, "Hey, sable!"

"Yeah?"

"I just realized something!"

"What?"

"I slapped the High King!"


	3. Domestic Tastes and Flirting Like Kids

The next day, after the sisters had been seen to, and Lucy and Susan had settled them into the castle, Sable was sleeping in the evening when Peter came calling.

He knocked on the door to Rosalie and Sable's apartments.

Opening the door, Rosalie came face to face with the High King of Narnia, and she remembered she was in her nightgown with only a robe around it.

"Um, hello," She said, for lack of anything else to say.

Peter smiled. "Can I come in?"

"Sure," Rosalie opened the door wider for him.

He came in and sat down on a couch. Rosalie took this as a cue and sat in a chair across from him.

Peter looked at her for a moment. "You know, you are the first person who hasn't bowed or curtsied at the sight of me."

"Sorry to disappoint you," Rosalie said.

Peter grinned. "It's alright."

Rosalie crossed her arms. "If you don't mind me saying so, Your Majesty, why are you here?"

Peter looked amused. "Because there's a ball in a week, to celebrate the one year anniversary of our coronation."

Rosalie raised her eyebrows.

Peter continued. "And I wanted you to come with me,"

Rosalie folded her legs beneath her. "Okay, sure, Your Majesty, I'd love to go,"

Peter got up.

"And, if you don't mind, tell Sable that Edmund wants to talk to her." He went to the door. His hand on the doorknob, he looked back at Rosalie. "And call me Peter," He left.

"Well, that was weird," Rosalie said aloud.

"So're you going?" Sable asked.

"I guess so," Rosalie said, not at all surprised to discover her little sister eavesdropping from just behind the doorway. "I mean, I don't remember anyone important in my life before waking up,"

"I feel hurt," Sable sniffed for effect. Rosalie rolled her eyes.

"You know what I mean."

"Yup I do," Sable said, "And Peter _likes_ you."

"No he doesn't!"

"Does to!"

"And Edmund?"

Sable grinned. "I'll talk to him tomorrow," She yawned. "Oh, and by the way, Susan and Lucy want us to have lunch with them tomorrow and try on dresses."

"And?"

"I said yes,"

"Damn, I wanted to sleep in,"

"It's at noon,"

"I wanted to sleep in,"

XXXXXXXXXX

Susan sipped from a teacup.

Apparently, lunch with Queen Susan of the Horn meant tea. Lunch with the Valiant Queen meant actual food, and then trying on dresses.

So, they had opted to have lunch first, then tea while they took turns modeling dresses.

So Susan's maidservant, a girl called Mercy, was pulling tight Sable's corset behind a screen.

"Try on the pink one first," Rosalie ordered. "Then the white one, and then the gold one,"

After three hours of a girl time, they decided that Sable looked best in gold, Rosalie in green, Susan in purple, and Lucy in light blue.

"Did Peter ask you to the ball, Rosalie?" Susan asked as they sipped tea like good and proper noblewomen.

"Yes he did," Rosalie said with a grin. "And Edmund might ask Sable,"

"Oh, are you going?" Lucy asked eagerly. "Please?"

"Sure we'll go, Lucy," Sable said. "But you'll have to show us around."

Lucy's answer was interrupted by a messenger, a dryad who said, "I beg your pardon my Queens, ladies, but the King wishes the presence of the Lady Sable," She hadn't added High to the King, so that meant it was Edmund.

Lucy dipped one eyebrow and raised the other. Rosalie smirked. Susan smiled at a red-faced Sable. "Good luck," she said.

The dryad directed the girl to the gardens, where the High King waited for her.

He was talking with a centaur several feet taller than him, and yet he managed to look more regal.

Noticing Sable, the King excused himself, and the centaur bowed and left. Edmund came over, to find the girl examining a patch of black roses.

"Like them?" Edmund asked, as Sable touched a black shining petal.

"They're sad," Rosalie said mournfully.

"They were planted for the Narnians who died fighting the White Witch," Edmund said. "I'm not sure they're _suppose_d to be happy."

"Maybe not," Sable admitted. "But I think white roses would be better," she looked at Edmund. "This is a very odd conversation," she observed.

Edmund grinned.

Walking towards a stone bench together, Edmund said to Sable, "What do you think of Cair Paravel?"

"It's beautiful," Sable said. "All the colors, and gardens, and the throne room is magnificent,"

Edmund still grinned. "You should see my home. It's magnificent, too," Then he added thoughtfully. "But it can also be dirty," He paused. "Filthy, really, and the people can be a bit rude, and there's a war going on,"

Sable had to laugh a bit at his expression. Edmund laughed, too, a bit, before losing himself in his thoughts.

Sable watched him for a moment. "Do you miss it?" She asked. "Your home, I mean,"

Edmund looked at her. "So much," He said, trying to be casual. "I mean, Narnia's beautiful, but home's, . . . .I dunno. Home."

Sable nodded. "Do you have family back home?"

"Yes, my mother," He said, "My father's fighting in the war,"

"Is he a good fighter?"

Edmund snorted. "Never got close enough to the fighting to see him in action, did I?"

Sable decided now would be a good time to change the subject.

She sat on the stone bench, and Edmund sat beside her.

A young white she-wolf came running up, and sat at Edmund's feet.

"How about," Sable offered. "You ask one question and I ask another?"

"Fair enough," Edmund said, "But I go first,"

Sable rolled her eyes with a smile. "Fine,"

"Okay," Edmund said. He paused, and thought for a moment, then asked, "How old are you?"

Sable smiled. "Fourteen, same as you,"

"Do you remember your birthday?"

"Nuh, uh, Your Majesty, my turn," Sable said with a smile. "Who's this beauty?" She nodded at Azure, who was curled up at Edmund's feet, panting.

"Say hello, Azure," Edmund prompted.

The white wolf got up, stretched, and said, "Greetings, Lady Sable," She dipped her majestic head.

Nodding, Sable said, "Greetings, Azure," she looked back at Edmund. "Your turn to ask a question, Your Majesty." Azure ran off, the young she-wolf chasing something.

"Call me Edmund?" The young King asked.

"I, I," Sable stammered. She looked down. "I'm not sure I should. You're the King,"

"No, that's technically Peter." Edmund said, "He's _the_ King. I'm just _a_ King."

Sable looked back up at him. "You're not like I expected."

"How do you mean?" Edmund asked.

"Well," Sable said thoughtfully, "First you cut open my dress—very inappropriate, I might add,"

"Of course," Edmund said with a perfectly straight face.

"And so you took us home, and now you're being too human to be a king," Sable finished. "Altogether a very confusing picture."

"Well, before coming to Narnia," Edmund said. "Most of the kids at my school couldn't even remember my name,"

I grinned. "Imagine if they could see you now, King Edmund the Just, Duke of Lantern Waste, Count of the Western March, ruler of Narnia, swordsman extraordinaire, Knight of the Noble Order of the Lion, and having fought in a war already,"

"Can you fight?" Edmund asked.

Sable shook her head. "Don't remember trying."

"I'll teach you sometime," Edmund offered.

"That'd be nice," Sable admitted. "Can you shoot?"

Edmund grinned. "I'm a fair shot," and they both laughed.

In the room where the four girls had been trying on dresses, the Valiant Queen and Lady Rosalie stood peeking through the window.

"Honestly," admonished Susan. "Let them have a bit of privacy,"

"I think it's going well," Rosalie said.

"How can you tell?" Lucy demanded, trying to hide behind the curtain to make sure her brother didn't see her spying.

"Because she hasn't killed him yet," Rosalie said. "Oh, look, they're laughing."

"Edmund?" Susan got up and came to the window. "Laughing with Sable?"

"Spy much?" Peter asked form the doorway. The girls jumped, to the see the High King grinning.

"Honestly, Peter," Susan scolded. "We were _not_ spying. We were simply admiring the view of the gardens,"

Peter smirked. "I know a better place to admire the gardens," He said. "Lu, Mr. Tumnus says he wants help with something."

Lucy, eager to spend time with her old friend, ran off.

"And Su," Peter turned to his other sister. "The dryads are fighting with Mrs. Beaver again, and this time she's got the fauns on her side,"

"What are they fighting about this time?" Susan asked, hands on hips.

"Something about the food for the ball next week," Peter said.

Susan rolled her eyes, and headed for the door, muttering, "Of all the twitterwitted, useless reasons to be arguing . . ."

Rosalie smiled at where Susan had just disappeared. "So are they really fighting, or did you just make that up to get rid of her?"

Peter looked at her, amused. "You'll find there's very little you can to do get rid of Susan. She just keeps coming back," then he added thoughtfully. "Rather like a boomerang that always seems to hit you on the head."

"So," Rosalie said, moving the conversation along. "Why did you get rid of them?"

"Because I wanted to show you something," Peter said, smiling, "And I think you would find that Susan would simply downplay it, and Lucy would run around like a young wolf, asking if you liked it,"

With a bow, he offered her his arm.

Smiling, Rosalie took it, then said imperiously, "Lead the way,"

Laughing, Peter led her through the hallways.

Cair Paravel was as beautiful on the inside as the outside. Everyone in the halls bowed or curtsied to the High King, and smiled at Rosalie.

Peter was courteous to everyone, smiling back, and exchanging quick and polite greetings.

"You're good at this," Rosalie observed. "I mean, really good."

Peter shrugged, "A High King has to be diplomatic,"

"Yes, but you're more than diplomatic," Rosalie insisted. "Unlike most diplomats, you actually have something underneath the surface,"

Peter laughed. They talked some more, of the ball, of the surrounding kingdoms, of the small household crises that occurred daily.

All too soon, the two reached pair of doors.

"After you, milady," Peter said.

"Thank you, good sir," Rosalie smiled, and Peter opened the doors to reveal the biggest library Rosalie had ever seen.

A glass dome ceiling hundreds of feet above her head, and the walls were stocked with books of every kind, of every genre possible, and of every color possible. The bookshelves were wood painted white, and the entire room was lit by the afternoon sun streaming through the glass roof. One whole wall was a window streaked with black metal bars to hold it together, and hanging in front of the glass wall was a row of long ropes stretching to the ceiling, with knots every few feet. They looked like they were meant for climbing or something, until Rosalie saw that there were ropes before every bookshelf, as a means of getting books down from the higher shelves. There were chairs and sofas and couches and armchairs everywhere, places to curl up and read a good book.

"Oh, it's beautiful," Rosalie gasped. She stood in awe at the wondrous library.

"I thought you'd like it." Peter said. Rosalie saw he was grinning.

"What books are here?" Rosalie asked breathlessly.

"Anything, everything," Peter said, "Some books that haven't even been written yet,"

He picked up one from a nearby table, and handed it to her.

"Peter Pan," Rosalie read on the cover. She flipped to the first page. "All children, except one, grow up,"

"It's one of Lucy's favorites," Peter said.

"Why, because the title has a Peter in it?" Rosalie asked, smiling.

They heard laughter coming from an open window. Going over to the glass wall, Rosalie discovered that some panes of glass slid away to let in air, and sound.

Outside, Rosalie saw that in the gardens her younger sister was flirting like a child with the Just King.

Sable was chasing the King, and when she caught him, he picked up a stick from beneath a nearby tree, and brandished it in front of himself, grinning like a fool. Laughing, Sable grabbed her own branch, and wacked at the King.

"She has apparent talent," Peter observed, coming up behind Rosalie.

"It would appear so," Rosalie said, grinning as her sister played at sword fighting with the Duke of Lantern's Waste. "My tastes, however, are more domestic,"

"In what way?" Peter asked.

Rosalie smiled. "I like to read. And paint. And draw. And sew. All those strange things every girl is supposed to know but doesn't in real life."

"I'm not completely sure what real life is anymore," Peter said. "But would you mind showing me what you like to do?"

Rosalie smiled, and led him over to a couch. Sitting down, she pulled a book from the table next to her, and looked at the first page.

She began to read aloud.

""Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, 'and what is the use of a book' thought Alice, 'without pictures or conversation in it?"" And so the afternoon passed, with Rosalie reading to the High King, and while she did so, Sable and Edmund fought with branches, much to the annoyance of the trees to whom the branches had previously belonged to.

Outside, as it began to get dark, Sable and Edmund, red faced and laughing, dropped to the cobblestone ground, shaking and rocking back and forth with mirth.

When they managed to compose themselves, Edmund looked at the sky. "It's getting dark," He madea face, "Susan will be wanting dinner soon,"

Sable put on a grim face, and a strange voice. "'Tis bad luck to disobey one's mother, lad," And they collapsed into laughter again.

**Author's Note:** **So, how dost thou like?**

**who do you like better? PeterXRosalie, or EdmundXSable?**


	4. Fighting, and Snooping

"Excuse me?" A young centaur said. She only looked about eight years old, and her palomino body was twitching nervously. Her weight shifted from hoof to hoof, and her light colored tail twitched. "Sire, the King and Queens and Ladies are assembled for dinner," She swallowed, finding her mouth heavy. "And Queen Susan wishes to know whether Your Majesty will be joining them."

Peter looked up from his papers. Tossing the young centaur a coin and an apple, the High King said, "Thank you, Kira. Tell my sister that I will be with them shortly."

Kira nodded, and bowed as befitted the daughter of one of Peter's most trusted advisors, and left with her long blonde hair trailing behind her for a split second as her hooves clapped against the stone hallway floor. Peter could hear her teeth bite into the apple as she ran.

Peter smiled. He liked Kira, like a little sister or a young niece. She reminded him of Lucy when she was younger, though a bit more shy.

He turned his attention back to the book of law his advisors had advised him to read. Taking the throne so young, he had much to learn of Narnian law.

The High King was so absorbed in his book, he did not notice that time was ticking away.

It seemed only seconds later that Rosalie arrived, carrying a tray. Kira, who had showed her the way, whispered, "He gets hungry when he's been reading King stuff," Peter had to smile, though he wiped it off his face quickly, with some difficulty.

"Thank you, Kira," Rosalie whispered back. Kira nodded, and ran off once more.

"Your Majesty did not attend dinner," Rosalie said. "Was His Majesty busy reading fairy tales?"

"Aslan save me from fairy tales, if all are as dreadfully boring as these," Peter stretched his arms, straining the seams. The King had been growing fast, much to the amusement of his Court.

"Don't do that," Rosalie admonished, "Now sit like a good boy and eat your food," She pushed the tray in front of him, over the book of law.

It was a plate of beef stew, still warm, with a large piece of olive bread on the side.

"I can't eat," Peter said, moving the tray.

"If you don't eat, you'll be hungry later," Rosalie said like a mother. "And Susan has officially declared the kitchen closed." Grinning, she added. "No, I mean she literally closed the kitchen. She kicked out everyone, even Ms. Beaver, and she locked the door,"

"Sounds like Su," Peter admitted with a small smile. But then it vanished. "But I have to read this. Because if I don't know it, the Kingdom might suffer."

"Peter, I think you're overreacting," Rosalie said, "After all, you can still read this tomorrow, and there are two Kings and two Queens. Split everything between you four."

Peter smiled. "Fine, I'll eat," He took the tray. "But _you_ are going to go straight to your room, and you are going to go to sleep," He ordered.

Rosalie cocked a hip and crossed her arms. "And why is that, O Great Leader of Mine?" She asked, one eyebrow raised.

Peter grinned. "Because you need to sleep, too, because tomorrow I am teaching you to fight,"

Rosalie grimaced. "I live to whack people with a stick," She drawled. "My life is filled with the joy of swinging great pieces of metal," she left.

Peter smiled, and gulped down his soup.

Edmund came to Sable's room to wake her up before dawn.

When she felt someone shake her, she turned over, onto her back and moaned, "Go away, Rosie,"

"Sable, wake up," a voice said.

"No," Sable moaned throwing an arm across her eyes.

"Um, Sable, you might want to be getting up now," Edmund said.

Edmund?

"Your nightgown is kinda see-through,"

HOLY CRAP!

Sable pulled her sheet up around her shoulders. "WHAT GIVES?" She demanded, then seemed to remember who she was talking to. "Edmund, did you ever think of coming by at a reasonable time?" A glance out the window told her it wasn't even light out yet.

"Well, because later everyone else is up, and then everyone is staring," the King said cheerfully. "Get dressed, and fast." And he left the room, closing the door behind him.

Sable groaned, and flopped back onto the bed, then got up, because she didn't want the King in her room again, not with her hair the mess it was, and her nightgown see-through, and her half asleep and yelling at the same time.

So Sable got dressed, in record time.

Somehow, Sable got the feeling that Susan wouldn't approve of this outfit. It was a pale gray tunic that was longer than a tunic was supposed to be, and black leggings, with a gold belt. She laced her feet into knee-high brown boots, and brushed her hair.

"Ready," she announced quietly, so as not to wake Rosalie.

"Good," Edmund said. "Because it's wonderful outside."

The practice courts outside were still chilly in the spring air. But it was dry, and it wasn't cold enough for there to be a cloud every time Sable breathed, so she grinned, and caught the practice sword Edmund tossed her.

Watching from a window, the Valiant Queen and the Gentle Queen looked out as Edmund and Sable practiced.

"You know we should do something about them," Susan said.

"Oh yes," Lucy agreed. "We haven't played matchmaker in a long time," they grinned at each other. It was amazing how much better they understood each other, now that they ruled together. "You know what we have to do," She added with a straight face.

"Dance lessons?"

"Dance lessons," And they both looked out at Sable and Edmund again. "But tomorrow," Lucy said. "Or tonight. I don't know about you, but I think they should have some time alone together,"

"When did you become the sensible one, Lu?" Susan inquired, closing the curtains.

"Easy," Lucy said. "You were busy cleaning up after Mrs. Beaver and the dryads, and the Minotaurs were arguing. I had to be stern with them," And the sisters giggled.

"So what do you think?" Susan said, picking up a gown from the bed. "Red or blue?"

Rosalie woke to find a note on her sister's bed.

_Rosie,_

_Gone to practice fighting with Edmund,_

_Susan and Lucy said the castle is yours to explore,_

_Or maybe to visit the High King?_

To make sure no one else would read it, Rosalie ate the note. It tasted dreadful.

Rosalie decided to go to the library, or on second thought, she'd like to see that sweet little centaur again, what was her name? Kira. She'd ask in the kitchens where to find her.

Rosalie set off, wandering the castle corridors.

Peter was not in his study. He wasn't in the gardens, or watching Edmund and Sable train. He wasn't with Susan, and he wasn't with Rosalie. He wasn't inside, so there was only one place he could be.

Lucy was there with him, now, on the balcony of the highest point in Cair Paravel. You could see Narnia from there. The view was beautiful.

"What'm I gonna do, Lu?" Peter asked, "I'm not cut out for this,"

Lucy slipped her arm into her older brother's. "Peter, you're a great King,"

"It doesn't matter, not if the people don't think so," Peter said.

Lucy leaned her head on his shoulder. "Peter, I think you're being pessimistic. You should have more faith in Aslan,"

Peter peered at his sister. "How did you bring Aslan into this conversation?"

Lucy peered right back at him. Her older brothers and sisters could be so thick sometimes. "You're Aslan's choice, we all are. We have to trust his judgment, because if we weren't supposed to be Kings and Queens, he wouldn't have made us so,"

Peter ran a finger through his hair. "Oh, now don't do that," Lucy moaned, smoothing it down, "You're teaching Rosalie to fight later, and then we have to go visit that stuffy nobleman's home for the next few days, and you don't look at all Kingly with your hair sticking up,"

"Thanks, Lu," Peter said amused. From the balcony, he could see two figures in a practice court below. "I wish I could see them better,"

Lucy passed him a pair of binoculars, the really old ones.

"Have I mentioned how much I miss binoculars?" Peter wondered rhetorically.

"Nope," Lucy said.

Peter put the binoculars to his eyes, and peered at his brother and friend.

"You know," Lucy said thoughtfully, content with watching Edmund and Sable from a distance, "Some would call this spying,"

"Others would call it snooping," Peter added.

"And others might just call it sibling rivalry," Lucy said cheerfully. "Same thing anyway,"

Sable and Edmund took a break. They were both sweaty, and panting.

Edmund had beaten Sable nineteen times out of twenty.

They were both eager to begin again, but their muscles hurt too badly.

So they laid down, frantic to rest their limbs and regain the use of their lungs before getting up.

They stared at the morning sky for a while.

"I'm been meaning to ask," Edmund said. "Do you know Narnian history?"

"Bits and pieces," Sable said. "All I know is that you defeated the White Witch Jadis. But other than that, it's all kind of fuzzy. Why?"

"No reason," Edmund said brightly. "Just wondering," But he was relieved, because that meant Sable didn't know about him and Jadis, how she had lured him with promises of power.

"You know, Edmund," Sable said, sitting. "You did promise to teach me to shoot."

Edmund sat up. "You're right," He got to his feet. "Come on,"

"Now?" Sable asked, surprised.

"Yes, now," Edmund said, and offered her a hand. She took it, finding it callused. _The hands of a swordsman_, she realized.

Edmund helped her up, and they headed for the archery court.

Rosalie was talking to Kira in the kitchens.

The young filly was sweet. She had all the charm of a human child, and the grace of a horse, combined with the talkative mouth of any human, and the beauty of the mermaids in the pictures Rosalie had found in her library.

" . .And my brothers chased me all the way down to the lake," Kira finished, and Rosalie laughed at the story. It was a rather long story, so I won't repeat it, because or else your eyes would hurt from the paragraphs.

"Do you have many siblings, Kira?" Rosalie asked.

Kira nodded. "I've four brothers, and a baby sister. I've an older sister, too, but I don't see her often,"

"I've only got Sable, I think," Rosalie said. She touched the bandage at her head she still wore. "But I can't remember." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "The healers say that the rocks and the corset combined knocked us out, but that the rocks made us lose our memories,"

"Can you get them back?" Kira asked. "Maybe they're just locked up somewhere, and you just need the right key?"

Rosalie smiled at her. "You have a fresh way of thinking, Kira,"

"Thank you," Kira ducked her head shyly.

A dryad blew into the room.

Her eyes searched the kitchen, to rest upon Rosalie.

"The High King requests your presence, my lady," She said. "He says to tell you it is time for you to learn to fight,"

Rosalie grimaced, but rose to follow the dryad to the High King.

"Has anyone followed you?" Bast demanded of Aurea.

"No one," Aurea said. "Why have you called this Meeting?"

"Because the Two have come," Amber said.

All four Guardians were at the top of the highest tower of Cair Paravel. There was a Seeing Glass there, and they could see their masters and mistresses outdoors, talking and sword fighting and laughing.

"But are we sure they are the Two?" Azure questioned.

"We _know_ they are the Two," Amber said. "But has either of them been Inhabited by—"

"Do not speak the name!" Bast hissed. The black cat glanced around them. "That name brings evil," She reprimanded Amber.

"No," Azure told Amber. "Neither of them has been Inhabited. It is only a matter of time, I suppose," She said thoughtfully. "I wonder which it will be, Rosalie or Sable."

Aurea shrugged, an odd thing in an eagle. "I suppose She is not picky. She has had a year to consider her options."

"So what do we do?" Azure turned to Amber and Bast. "Is there anything to be done?"

"Watch," Bast turned her solemn eyes at each Guardian in turn. "Watch your masters and mistresses. We must be sure that She does not return to power again,"

And the Guardians dispersed.

The High King's method of teaching was somewhat different.

Rosalie was not big on combat, and the High King was an exceptional warrior, so they came up with a compromise.

The High King would show her step by step the moves, how to block, to lunge, swipe, and distract.

Away in the archery courts, Susan watched Edmund come up behind Sable to adjust her aim and stance and position of her hands.

The girl's eyes sparkled.

Susan's arrow hit the bull's eye.

As she retrieved her arrows, she thought about her brother and Sable.

The girl was a natural fighter. She was bold and quick, with a good eye and strong limbs.

She lacked patience, in Susan's opinion, but in the midst of battle, patience was not often needed.

Susan resumed her position a hundred yards from the target, and began to fire once more.

**Sable's POV**

I was only too aware of Edmund's chest against my back, and his hands on my own.

"A bit higher," He said softly, and I tilted my bow upward. "A little less," He said. He took control, tilting it down a little bit.

"And let go," I did, and the arrow shot through the air with a wiz.

It thudded into the circle just outside the bull's eye, incredibly close.

I looked at Edmund, who smiled.

"Wanna try it again?" I nodded.

I was about to let the arrow fly when a voice shouted, "ED!"

I shrieked and my hand slipped. The arrow shot into the air, so Edmund and I ran for covefr, having lost the arrow in the sun.

"For the love of Aslan, Peter!" Edmund yelled at his brother.

"I bet Aslan would want us _not_ to be late the Duke's manor," Peter reminded his brother. Rosalie clutched a sword behind him, and she looked as if she had tried to outrun a centaur, or wrestle a giant.

"What?" I asked. No one had told me about this.

**Continue Third Person**

Rosalie and Sable were given Talking Horses to ride on the way to the Duke's Manor.

Apparently, after the fall of the White Witch, the land where her castle had been was given to the Duke. His title was Duke of the Witchlands. Most were superstitious of such a place, but the land was rich and well, and it was where the Pevensies and Rosalie and Sable would spend the days before the ball.

The Duke's Manor was rather plain, and it was apparent in this part of Narnia that the people were not completely fond of their royalty.

"It's the Traitor King," Someone hissed.

"Time was it was the gallows for a traitor," another growled.

"Betrayer, ought to be locked up,"

But still the party faced forward, not looking at the mumblers. "Are they talking about you, Peter?" Rosalie asked quietly, riding next to him.

"No," He said, a bit sadly. "Edmund,"

"Edmund!" she whispered, turning to look at the King.

He was frozen on his horse. The swordsman's left fist was clenched around the reins, and his right was on his sword hilt.

He looked furious, but not at the mumblers, at himself. He looked ashamed, sad, distraught.

Who was he?


End file.
